A Cheers to the Life You Don't Get to Choose //Noah Sebastian

I.

"Look at you, sweetie!" I crouch down next to our adorable little two year old daughter and kiss her on the cheek. She's wearing a green tinker bell dress that she picked out herself for her birthday party. Noah is on the road right now, but said he will do everything in his power to make it in time. It devastates him every time he misses something.

"Your daddy is going to love it! Let's go downstairs and show Uncle Spencer and Aunt Nadia, okay?" I smile and take her hand. "NiNi!"

Spencer and Nadia are her two favorite beings in the world. Jaxson at the top of that list, and Noah and I falling just behind Spence and Nad.

"Rawr!!" As soon as Sloane reaches the bottom of the stairs, Spencer jumps around the corner to scare her. A normal kid would probably scream and cry, but not my kid, she screams and giggles. She is barely two and already has been introduced to Scream and Halloween. She loves Michael Myers. Thanks for that, Spence. She is still working on word pronunciations so Spencer is "Spen," yet still sounding gibberish sometimes and Nadia has always been "NiNi."

"How's my favorite birthday girl?" Nadia pulls her up in her arms and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Good." She replies.

"Is Noah coming?" Spencer asks, getting up off the floor after petting Jaxson. "I haven't heard anything yet, we'll see."

Bad Omens have taken the scene by storm and I am so fucking proud of them, however it has drastically changed the dynamic of our lives. It's been better because I know I'm not alone with the support of my family.

"Hey guys!" The door opens and my dad, Brent and Cal enters the house. "Hi, dad." Hugging my dad I could tell something is off. He feels..weaker which is not like him. I brush it off, not needing something else to worry about today when it's probably nothing.

  I miss the presence of my mom still, her and I have severed ties. Things were said, things I don't ever want to revisit.

  "Brent, Cal." Greeting them both with a hug. "There's my princess!" Brent wastes no time scooping Sloane up from Nadia's arms.

"Where's Noah?" My dad asks. I pinched my nose in frustration, "I don't know, I wish everyone would stop asking." "Dada!" Sloane calls out after hearing Noah's name. I roll my eyes and head to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of red wine.

"How are you holding up?" Caleb asks, pouring himself a glass. "I'm fine." I glance at him. "I just don't know if he'll get here in time." I explain as we walk into the backyard. He has the most sincere look on his face, but I am getting sincerely annoyed. I glance at my watch. Please get here, Noah.

  "Hey! You got paint on my butt!" Noah grabs my ass while his hand is covered in a pastel green paint as we paint the nursery. "That's the entire point." He laughs and rolls his eyes. I take the paint roller and roll the back of his white cutoff, covering it. "Hey!" He pouts and wipes his paint coated hands on my arms, pulling me in and putting his hand on my stomach. "I cannot wait to be a dad. I am the luckiest man in the fucking world to have you two girls in my life."

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear my name called. I turned around on my heels, glass of wine still in hand and let out a  sigh of relief when I see Noah and the rest of the guys standing on the back patio with a shit ton of gifts in their hand.

"Oh thank god you're here. I was not ready to deal with a 'dadas not here' meltdown." I know I should have kept the comment to myself, but it's true. I hug him and thank Folio, Ruffilo and Jolly for coming and help them with the gifts ushering them to get food.

  "Dada!!" Sloane yells as she runs over to Noah, almost losing her balance. He picks her up and lifts her into the air before bringing her in for a hug. It brings me joy to see both of their faces when they see each other again.